Air distributor for air conditioning units



Oct. 1, 1957 s. F EHMAN 2,807,992

AIR DISTRIBUTOR FOR AIR CONDITIONING UNITS Filed Jan. 4, 1954 Fig.4 f 1 INVENTOR.

Sh/Hey F. Ehman "www- Attorney United States Patent AIR DISTRIBUTdR FOR AIR CONDITIONING UNITS Shirley F. Ehman, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application January 4, 1954, Serial No. 401,957

1 Claim. (CI. 98-40) This invention relates to a refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to an air outlet grill for use in directing refrigerated air out into an occupied space.

It is one object of this invention to provide a simple and inexpensive air grill capable of directing the air at any angle from the face of the grill.

More particularly it is an object of this invention to provide an air grill which consists of a stack of similar perforated plates which are shiftable relative to another so as to vary the angle of air flow.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of an air conditioning unit provided with a grill constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view. of the air grill;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale showing the grill set to direct the air normal to the face of the grill; and,

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the grill set to direct the air towards one side.

Referring now to the drawing wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown, reference numeral designates a cabinet of a conventional air conditioning unit of the type adapted to be mounted in a window opening 14 of a residence, oflice building or the like. The invention is equally applicable to floor mounted air conditioning units, wall air outlets and other types of installations.

In the air conditioning unit shown in the drawing, the air to be conditioned is discharged through a pair of air grills 12 mounted side by side in one wall of the cabinet. Each of the grills 12 consists of a stack of plates provided with perforations 26 through which the conditioned air discharges. When the perforations of the adjacent plates of a grill are arranged in direct alignment with one another as shown in Figure 3 of the drawing, the air will be discharged straight out from the face of the grill as indicated by the arrows in Figure 3. By shifting the plates relative to one another so as to change the alignment of the apertures it is possible to change the direction of air flow through the plates. Figure 4 shows the plates of one of the grills shifted relative to one another so as to direct the air towards the left as viewed in Figure 4 and as indicated by the arrows whereas it is obvious that the plates could be shifted so as to direct the air either in an upward direction, an inclined direction, to either side, towards a corner of the grill, or in any intermediate direction.

For purposes of illustrating the invention four plates have been shown whereas the number of plates and the thickness thereof may be varied somewhat without departing from the spirit of the invention. It has been demonstrated that four plates of & inch thickness do an exice cellent job of directing the air in any desired direction. In the illustrated embodiment the plates 18 through 24 are held in place adjacent the inner wall of the cabinet by means of a flange 16 which is secured to the inner surface of the cabinet 10 and presses against the plates but allows shifting of the plates relative to one another and then holds the plates in any desired position of adjustment.

Whereas the drawing shows a grill consisting of flat plates it is within the purview of this invention to use curved plates. By using two or more grill sections located side by side as shown in Figure l of the drawing, it is possible to direct diiferent portions of the air in different directions. Tltus in the illustrated form it would, for example, be possible to discharge the air in the form of two converging or diverging air streams. The arrangement shown makes it possible to adjust the adjacent plates of each grill in an infinite number of ways. The arrangement can also be used for varying the amount of air flow. Thus if the bottom plate of Fig ure 4 were to be shifted to the left as far as it can go without shifting the upper three plates, the air flow would be materially restricted.

In the grill shown the plates may be shifted relative to one another by hand or by inserting a pencil or the likethrough the one set of apertures and pointing the 7 pencil in the direction in which the air is to be directed.

It is to be understood that lever or cam means (not shown) could be provided for shifting the plates if desired. While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that. other forms might be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claim which follows.

What is claimed is as follows:

In a room air conditioner or the like, a'cabinet having an air outlet opening in one wall thereof, an air grill disposed within said cabinet and adjacent said opening for varying the direction in which the air flowing through said outlet opening leaves said cabinet, said grill comprising a plurality of stacked perforated plates in slidable contact with one another with the perforations in the adjacent plates overlying each other at all times so as to form aligned passageways through said stack of plates, and means mounting said plates adjacent said opening to permit parallel movement of said plates with respect to each other and to said opening in all directions so as to incline said passageways, said last means comprising an element spaced from the edges of said stacked plates and secured to the inner surface of said wall, and having a flange extending beyond said edges to overlap the innermost plate so as to contact and press said stacked plates against said inner surface of said wall whereby the spacing between said element and said edges permits shifting movement of said plates simultaneously relative to each other in any selected parallel direction transversely and/or diagonally of said opening to a desired position, said shifting movement of said plates being of progressively greater increments extending from the outermost plate to the innermost, and whereby the pressure of said flange maintains said plates in said position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS I 206,890 McDowell Aug. 13, 1878 1,982,125 Stacey Nov. 27, 1934 2,282,572 Graham May 12, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 57,712 Switzerland Dec. 11, 1911 14,128 Great Britain June 17, 1912 

